Speakers And Subwoofers For High And Low Frequency Sound OutputsA good sounding audio system combines the quality of both the speakers and subwoofers. Both components must be well-matched and tuned for a great sounding music system. They must work well with all the other audio components including the amplifiers, tuners, and players. Besides the speakers themselves, the subwoofers are individual speakers that are used with the only purpose of reproducing very low-frequency sounds. The subwoofer may not be glamorous or the fanciest component of a home theater system but it is nevertheless imperative in reproducing a realistic listening experience. Subwoofers Complete the Audio Frequency Range
Speakers and subwoofers work together to provide the complete range of frequencies that are audible to the human ear. This is in the range between 20Hz to 20KHz (twenty hertz to twenty thousand hertz). The purpose of adding a subwoofer to the audio sound system is to reproduce the lowest end of the frequency range which goes below 20Hz. With the addition of a low-pass crossover filter, sounds that are higher than the subwoofer's frequency can be filtered out. An adjustable low-pass filter is the most user friendly as you can better tune your subwoofer's performance to match the output of your normal speakers. Speakers and subwoofers complement one another and must work in concert to reproduce sound accurately. Ideally, you could play a test tone sound through your system and be able to graph the output. Your speakers and subwoofer should produce a flat sound output curve. This would be ideal and would help you tune your system. Most of us must just use our ears to tune our system. Subwoofers Produce the Lowest Sounds Subwoofers produce the lowest tones and speakers the middle and high-range sounds. Low frequency sound waves are longer and they require large drivers to produce these long wavelengths and low-frequency tones. As such, they consume lots of power. The subwoofer's sole task is to reproduce the lowest of the low dounds, which is why you can't produce those deep bass sounds without using a subwoofer. So, when shopping for a combination of speakers and subwoofers you need to calculate how much power is required for the subwoofer and speakers. For serious bass you should settle for a speaker and subwoofer system that allows for higher power (more watts) in the subwoofer's built-in amplifier. A twelve inch subwoofer or larger is desirable for getting deeper bass sounds. A home theater that has a floor standing speakers and subwoofers combination would provide extra good bass response and output the full sound and the subwoofer would be instrumental in giving an extra dose of deep bass. The same cannot be said of bookshelf speakers as they are not able to produce low frequency sounds and a subwoofer added to the speaker system would become useful for producing lower frequency sounds. One may be pleasantly surprised to know that a pair of small speakers and subwoofers would be able to sound as good as a pair of large speakers. All that may be required is to tweak the crossover filter and even a bookshelf speakers and subwoofers combination would deliver impressive sound without taking up too much space. Tune your speaker system by adding some low-end punch with a subwoofer. A subwoofer can be filtered with a crossover filter so it only produces the lowest sounds. This way you can use your regular middle- and high-range speakers with a new subwoofer and tune it to produce a full-range of music and audio. |